Founder of SD Custom Footwear Rey Marquez talks Family, Air Movie, and creating Opportunity for Community

They say, building a community is done, one brick at a time. For Rey Marquez, the owner of SD Custom Footwear in San Diego, California the saying holds true to his past and his present. Rey’s story begins in Fontana, California around the age of 5. Rey remembers vividly the sewing factory his mother worked at and the work she brought home. It was there, Rey began to learn the machines, sewing and pattern making. 

At the age of 14, Rey Marquez started his own screen printing business in Zacatecas, Mexico. Beginning a screenprinting business posed several challenges.  Rey remembers the many bus rides to Guadalajara to get materials. Times were hard and Rey’s family didn’t have a lot of money. However, Rey was determined. In middle school, Rey found himself inspired by the NBA Dream Team, the shoes and the uniforms they wore. Rey’s passion was born and he began designing and making custom uniforms for the neighborhood teams. Rey jokes today about his early work, “In the beginning, the actual logos and numbers would fall off due to the lack of the proper adhesives.” However, Rey prevailed!

At only 15, Rey dropped out of school and moved to Kansas for work opportunities. Rey found work in construction, landscaping and odd jobs to survive.  By the time Rey was 21, he was a single father with sole custody of two children. Later, Rey was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime when his brother, Dr. Francisco Marquez offered to teach him about business and real estate if he moved to San Diego. After little consideration, Rey took his brother up on the offer and packed up his two children and a few belongings into his Honda Civic and relocated to California in 2002. 

The Transition

When Rey’s oldest son was in high school, roughly 9-years ago, he wanted a design painted on his football cleats. Rey took to the project.  The work on his son’s cleats led him back to his passion. His son told his friends, and from there the momentum grew. After this request from his son, Rey found himself back designing and painting sneakers. His son told him about a 4 day custom shoe making class by the Shoe Surgeon. In 2018, Rey decided to take a class at the Shoe Surgeon Sneaker School. The school offers a 4-day course, which Rey skillfully completed in 3-days. Rey paid his free time forward and began helping students in need on that fourth day. Rey was determined to break the mold of the fashion industry, notorious for gatekeeping information for personal gain. Rey’s love for his craft is what inspires him to teach, “Knowledge is like love, one should give it away”, stated Rey Marquez. Through working with the Shoe Surgeon School, Rey learned the arts of sneaker deconstruction, reconstruction, and the entire shoemaking process.

Rey was determined to break the mold of the fashion industry, notorious for gatekeeping information for personal gain. Rey’s love for his craft is what inspires him to teach, “Knowledge is like love, one should give it away”, stated Rey Marquez. Through working with the Shoe Surgeon School, Rey learned the arts of sneaker deconstruction, reconstruction, and the entire shoemaking process. It was a long journey for Rey; however, it didn’t take long before he was designing and manufacturing his own signature patterns. After proposing a partnership and investment into his former school, Rey decided to venture out and pursue his own school and entrepreneurship.

The Start of SD Custom Footwear

From posting on social media, Rey met a group of entrepreneurs who loved his designs. They insisted that Rey fly out to their factory in which they specialize in exotic leathers & material. Eventually, Rey flew out and a partnership was formed that led to Reymar Premium handcrafted customs. Although all of this was in trying times,  Rey Marquez decided to trust the process and made the tough decision of selling his house, going all in on his passion. Rey recalls a moment during a Sneakercon conference in Dallas, where he sat there with his shoe designs and questioned if he had made the right decision until he was approached by Monster Energy. Upon discussion, Monster made a visit to Rey’s San Diego warehouse where they actually took and engaged in a class. From there, a partnership and sponsorship was formed, which still stands strong today. The partnership was instrumental in  helping to pursue Rey’s passion of teaching and  coaching those who share in the vision.

SD Custom Footwear

From creating patterns and designs of custom footwear, Rey Marquez has a full operational warehouse in San Diego that not only houses great artwork, but is a resource to the community. Rey teaches classes on creating patterns, materials and guides to those interested in the craft. Rey encourages and enlightens all with life skills in creating custom sneakers that many have benefited from. From producing free YouTube content to working hands-on, Rey expresses that learning to build custom shoes is an artform that requires minimal capital.  To date, Rey Marquez has had over 100 students attend his class, and an astonishing 13 of the students have gone on to pursue the business with their own free standing business. Rey stands on the premise that everyone has value, and reiterates to his students that, “anything worth doing, must be done with a passion”. 

“anything worth doing, must be done with a passion”. 

Rey Marquez ~ SD Custom Footwear

It’s that passion that motivates Rey to give back to the community through his 4-Day class at SD Custom Footwear in San Diego. Teaching others a lifetime skill is a way of giving back and connecting with the youth. The traditional blend of bespoke shoemaking, along with modern sneaker reconstruction is an artform that requires passion. “I tell people, there is not a lot of money in it at the beginning, there must be a genuine love for sneaker reconstruction”, states Rey Marquez.

Thinking back, it was the humble beginnings that began with the hardwork and dedication of his mother. It was Rey Marquez’s mother who planted the seed of sewing and design that traveled and embedded itself within Rey. Rey Marquez tips his hat to his mother, who raised six children that are all entrepreneurs and thriving today. 

SD Custom Footwear present day, and Going Forward

Present day, Rey Marquez is now in full swing with SD Custom Footwear. SD Custom Footwear is not only a warehouse, but a full facility with a laser cutter that provides students state of the art technology. Rey enjoys the fact that he is willing to share his knowledge with the masses. The sneaker customization community is growing, and SD Custom Footwear’s play a major part. To date, SD Custom’s continues to afford children the opportunity to bring in their own sneakers and learn to customize them. Rey Marquez sends a huge shout-out to Angelus Paints. Angelus Paints continues to support & donate paint supplies which adds to the experience of attendee’s of the class. It’s about showing the youth that everything is possible. 

The collaboration with sponsors such as Monster Energy  has been a heaven sent. From the chance encounter at Sneakercon in Texas, to attending the SD Custom Footwear class, Monster Energy has been an integral partner to Rey’s success. 

In addition to SD Custom Footwear partnership with Monster Energy Drinks, came an opportunity of a lifetime. Legendary Graffiti artist and founder of the West Coast Graffiti movement, Kelly “Risk” Gravel is in the works to design a custom sneaker with Rey Marquez. The opportunity is a collaboration that will not only highlight Rey’s hardwork and dedication, but a nod to the works of SD Custom Footwear and the many students that have graced its halls.  

 Conclusion

At the end of the day, Rey Marquez is a pioneer and student of bespoke shoemaking, along with modern sneaker reconstruction. As styles and culture change, so does Rey’s thought process in making patterns and designs. Rey Marquez hopes to continue providing opportunities to the community through SD Custom Footwear. At present, Rey is in talks to open a second warehouse and foresee a day where he can franchise his shoemaking classes. As for now, Rey remains humble and grounded in knowing he is making a difference with every life he touches. ~ Renzo